DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says this decision was taken after several years of monitoring the patterns and trends in the supplementary examinations.

One of the things we picked up was that the majority of the people who qualify to sit for supplementary examinations were not registering. And those that were registering were not coming to write the exams and those that were writing were not passing.

— Elijah Mhlanga, DBE Spokesperson

These patterns were consistent so the department decided something needed to be done.

We were preparing for a large number of people each year who were not coming through to write the exams. We print large amounts of question papers and appoint markers and invigilators for people who didn't pitch for the exam.

— Elijah Mhlanga, DBE Spokesperson

Moving the exams to June will mean there will be more time for pupils to prepare for these exams.